Nun Rock
Nun Rock , 15 miles North of Cape Wrath , was our group ’ s first taste of the Outliers , and what a plateful it was . I hadn ’ t had the optimum sea state on my first trip so couldn ’ t dive this area , and I was eager to get in on a site where conditions rarely allow divers to visit .
The rock doesn ’ t break the surface so we watched hungrily for the current to slow on the tell-tale of the shot we ’ d deployed . Our plan was a first dive with a bit of tidal flow , making use of the famed gullies to hide from the strongest water movement , and then a more leisurely second dive on slack . This is the plan we executed , but the first dive was more adrenaline-filled than we ’ d expected . Thank goodness for kelp , a useful handhold to pull ourselves down into the shelter of the gullies . Sculpted by water movement , these were more like grand canyons , with colourful sponges and anemones on every surface , that became the signature features on our trip . The main thoroughfare we nicknamed Dogfish Alley - never have I seen such confident catsharks , patrolling to and fro , entirely ambivalent to passing divers .
Throughout the dive we only had to look up to see a circling shoal of the largest sand eels I ’ d ever seen - fat , long and resembling a pack of Cuban cigars . On ascent , we marvelled at a large school of saithe and in the blue , masses of feeding mackerel ! My jaw dropped in response to their gulping mouths but I was also focused on reeling in my nearhorizontal dSMB line , so the memory will have to suffice in place of a photo .
After this Nun on the Run , our second dive was a more placid affair but still utterly mesmerising . This promised to be one memorable trip .
44